(being Homelanders wife isn't ideal. Especially when he finds your powers disgusting)
Part 2 here
(shadow supe reader)
You hated playing the part of Homelander's loving wife and the perfect step mother to Ryan. It wasn't like it was ever your choice. You were a shadow supe, which meant your shadows could heal you from anything. Even if you were burnt alive. So, it meant you were the perfect candidate to be Homelander's wife. If he got angry and blew you to pieces, it didn't matter. You were in the kitchen preparing dinner when you heard the door open. Your shadows crawled around you like tendrils as Ryan entered. He paused and looked at you, you knew you weren't exactly his favourite person.
'Hey,' he said. You smiled and looked at him. You always tried your best to be kind to him despite the fact that you hated your life here.
'Hey, kid... I'm making pasta for dinner,' you said. He looked at the shadows that crawled around you.
'You know he hates when they're out, right?' he said. You sighed and looked away and stirred the pasta again.
'I know... I just wanted to give them some freedom before he came home,' you paused and kept your head down. 'Don't tell him, please,' you whispered. You hated that a teenager had so much say over your life.
'I won't, I've got better things to do,' he said before walking away. You sighed and felt one of your shadows stroke your cheek. You chuckled softly.
'I'm okay... You don't need to worry,' you whispered. The door opened and your shadows quickly retreated when you saw Homelander coming home. You put on your fake good wife smile. 'Welcome home, love!'
Homelander slammed the door and you couldn't help but flinch.
'I need you to talk to Maeve,' he said. You looked at him in confusion.
'Uh, sure. What about?'
'I need her to have my babies,' he said. You stared at him in shock and one of your shadows slowly wrapped around your stomach. Homelander rolled his eyes. 'Put those things away, they make me sick,' he grumbled. They quickly retreated.
'Sorry, I was just shocked. Um, Maeve wants this?'
'No, that's where you come in. You need to convince her. Imagine how powerful our children would be,' he said. He stepped forward and held your arms. 'You can't give me a child. Not that I would want a child with your powers anyway. Maeve would be the perfect candidate to make a child with. One even more powerful then Ryan,' he said.
'Homelander... It's not her choice, you can't just,' Homelander reached forward and gripped your throat. You reached up and gripped his wrist. You whined a little and looked at him.
'Do you want to keep going? Hmm?' he asked. You shook your head and he let you go and collapse to the floor. You coughed and gasped for air as Ryan came out and looked at you. Homelander smiled and chuckled like he always did. 'Y/N, just had a bit of a fall,' he said. He helped you up and you smiled a little.
'Do you want a soda, Ryan?' you asked with a smile. He rolled his eyes and walked away again. You sighed and tried your hardest to not let your shadows out.
'Talk to her,' Homelander growled in your ear before he slapped your ass and walked away. You rubbed your head in annoyance and went back to cooking.
Once you were done you set the table perfectly like you always did. Homelander came out and wrapped his arms around you from behind. You knew he didn't find you very attractive, but you were a warm body, and that's what he needed sometimes. Plus, it helped that you had to do everything he said.
You sat in silence while Homelander and Ryan ate dinner. You usually kept quiet while they ate you didn't want to talk out of line anyway. You were lost in your thoughts when you heard Homelander groan. 'Honey, seriously.'
You looked down to see one of your shadows crawling over your hand. You blushed and quickly hid your hand. 'I'm sorry...'
'Seriously, they're so gross,' Ryan grumbled.
'I'm sorry,' you whispered again. Homelander rolled his eyes and you took a deep breath and tried your hardest to stay calm.
After dinner you were alone in the kitchen while you were cleaning up. You enjoyed the quiet and alone time you got, even if you did have to cook and clean during it.
'Why does my father want you to talk to Maeve?' you heard Ryan say as you turned around. You dried off your hands and tried to come up with an explanation.
'Oh, just uh...about media training,' you lied. Ryan stepped forward and glared at you.
'I heard you talking. He said he wants another child with Maeve. Why can't he have a child with you?' he asked. You continued to smile and tried to not crack.
'Well...your father wants a child that can be more powerful. A child from me would be...'
'Gross?' Ryan asked. Your smile faded and you looked away.
'Yeah...'
'So, you're fine with him having a baby with another woman?' he asked.
'Ryan, please just drop this. Talk to your father,' you said as you turned around and braced yourself against the counter.
'No, I want to hear it from you!'
'Enough!' you screamed as your shadows lunged out and wrapped around Ryan's throat. Homelander came out and lasered your arm. You screamed in pain and fell to the ground holding your bleeding arm.
'She was trying to kill me!' Ryan said. Homelander stood over you as you cried in pain. Your shadows wrapped around your arm and began to heal it.
'I lost control, I'm sorry,' you whispered. He looked down at you in disgust.
'Labs, now.'
You nodded and slowly stood up as he grabbed you roughly.
'Wait, where are you taking her?' Ryan asked.
'Don't worry about it, son. Somewhere she'll learn her lesson,' he said. Homelander dragged you into the elevator as your shadows still worked to heal your arm.
'I'm sorry... He was asking me all these questions and...' Homelander looked down at you, his eyes narrowed and you instantly went quiet. He dragged you to the labs and opened the cell you usually went in. He threw you inside and slammed the door before locking it. You looked up at him with sad eyes and he smirked.
'I love when you look at me like that, darling. Now, you be a good girl and think about what you've done,' he said before walking away. Your shadows swirled around you and formed into a masculine figure in front of you. The figure moved forward and wrapped his arms around you. 'Thank you,' you whispered. You were glad you had them at this moment.
--
The morning you woke up and saw Maeve looking down at you. You groaned and sat up.
'Heard you disobeyed your master again,' she said. You rolled your eyes and looked away. 'So, has he asked you to talk to me yet?'
'Yeah, he asked yesterday. Something about you having his babies,' you said.
'And let me guess, his perfect little wife will do that. You'll just be perfectly fine with your husband wanting another woman's children? Are you so pathetic that you'll ask me to have your husbands children?' she asked. You looked up at her.
'You know damn well I don't get a fucking say. You don't understand any of this, Maeve. Back the fuck off,' you growled. She chuckled as she watched your shadows crawl around you.
'Oh yeah, I bet you're so hardly done by up in your little penthouse,' she said with a scoff.
'My husband shoves me in a fucking cage when he's angry at me. Does that scream healthy relationship?' you asked. She stopped and looked down at you.
'So, why can't you have his kids?'
'I did have his kid,' you said. She paused and her face changed a little.
'What? What do you mean?'
'I had a child that was Homelanders... The baby came out with black eyes, probably had some of my powers. She was so beautiful,' you whispered as you looked away.
'What happened to your daughter?'
'Homelander gave her two weeks. She still showed signs of my powers, so he killed her. I screamed and wailed so he slit my throat to shut me up,' you said. Maeve looked at you with a horrified look on her face.
'He killed his...own child?' Maeve asked.
'I try to not think about it...'
'He took your baby away, Y/N. He murdered your child and you're still with him?' she said. You scoffed and shook your head.
'I can't leave, Maeve.'
'Why not?' she asked.
'He'll always find me. I have a chip inside me, don't know where it is,' you said. Maeve looked down at you and for the first time you saw pity in her eyes.
'Ah, the two girls having a chat,' you heard your husband say. Maeve rolled her eyes and left without saying a word. 'So, I know you're mad at me, but did you do what I asked?'
'I tried... I can't convince her,' you said. Homelander chuckled and looked at you.
'That's okay, sweetheart,' he said as he kneeled down in front of your cell. 'Not much use to you, is there? I suppose I can beat and kill you all I want and you'll just keep coming back. Plus, the public loves you don't they?' he said.
'You can't just force someone to have your child,' you whispered.
'Watch me, sweetheart. Because I can garentee I don't want your little shadow children. Are you still angry about me taking your little spawn away?' he asked. Your shadows wrapped around you and you could feel their anger.
'She was just a baby,' you whispered with tears in your eyes.
'She was an abomination, that's not the kind of child I want, sweetheart. You understand that don't you?' he said. You looked away and couldn't hell but let your tears flow freely. Homelander smiled, a sadistic look in his eyes as you cried. 'I'll leave you to have more time out.'
--
You had slept in your cage most of the day. When you woke up you felt pain in your body. You whined and heard voices around you. 'I'm trying to get the chip but her damn creatures won't stop touching me!' a voice said in a French accent.
'Well, bloody hurry up. She's fucking waking up!'
'Got it!' the man shouted as you felt more pain. Your shadows quickly got the works healing the wound.
'Bloody hell, she's gonna be useful.'
'Homelander...?' you whispered.
'He ain't here, luv. Your little husband ain't coming to save you,' the voice said. You felt pain again and yelped. Billy injected you with another sedative, your shadows trying to defend you but the sedative worked too quick. 'Guess we should try out that supe proof cell.'
--
When you awoke again you were in another cell, this one was a lot smaller than the one at vought. You sat up in the cramped space as your shadows whirled around you with worry. 'It's okay, guys.'
'So, those little things can understand you, huh?' a voice said. You looked forward.
'You're Billy Butcher... Becca's husband,' you whispered.
'So, you do know me, luv? I'm honoured to be known by Homelanders perfect wife. Were you in the picture while he was holding my wife Captive?'
'Yes... I was there. In the labs mainly, but he didn't marry me until...Becca died,' you said. He scoffed and kneeled down to face you.
'Ain't that a lovely story. One woman dies and he gets another one. Surprised he hasn't killed you yet.'
'He has... I can regenerate, even if I die,' you said. He looked at you curiously.
'You're the perfect little toy to homelander than, aren't you?' he said. You looked up at him, your eyes showing exhaustion.
'Yeah, that's why they make me stay with him... Wait, the chip,' you said as Billy held up the bloodied chip.
'Bloody thing was fused to your spine. Bastard really didn't wanna lose you, did he?'
'You got it out?' you muttered. It explained the pain you'd felt earlier.
'Sure did, luv. Now, I ain't a fucking idiot. We found you locked up in a cell in a blood stained dress with a chip in your spine. I'm gonna guess your husband don't exactly treat you right, huh?' he said. You looked at him with sad eyes.
'No... I'm just his wife out of convenience I never wanted any of this. Vought realised I could heal from anything so I was just something to test experiments on. Then they had the bright idea for me to be Homelander's wife. I'm pretty and I can't scar. It was a match made in heaven,' you muttered. Billy looked at you and the man you knew as the brutal supe killer actually looked like he felt pity.
'He's using you the same way he did my wife. Surprised he hasn't got you knocked up yet,' he said. You looked at him and your shadows tightened around you.
'He did... Once, but the child came out with my powers. Well, half if my powers. He's disgusted by my powers so he got rid of the baby,' you said. He looked at you in confusion.
'Bloody hell... What did he do to the baby?'
'He killed her,' you whispered. Butcher looked at you sadly. He knew homelander was a right cunt, but killing a baby was a whole new level.
'You spend any time with Ryan?' Billy asked.
'Yeah... He doesn't like me one bit. He blames me for what happened to Becca basically.'
'He blames you for Becca? What do you mean?'
'He has to blame someone. May as well blame the woman trying to pretend to be his mother,' you said. Billy looked at you in thought and glanced at your shadows.
'Affectionate little buggers, aren't they?'
'Yeah... They've always tried their best to protect me. Basically the only family I've ever known,' you said. Billy chuckled as he watched the shadows.
'You think I can trust you and your little beasts to come out of the cage?' he asked. You looked at him in shock.
'You would let me out...? Yes, yeah you can trust us. I mean I can't promise they won't want to crawl around you a bit,' you said with a small laugh. Billy smiled and opened the cage before helping you out. You took his hand and stood up as he watched the shadows crawl around his hand. They began creeping further down his hand as he tensed up. 'It's okay, they won't hurt you. Do you have a wound somewhere?' you asked.
'Yeah, bloody stab wound in my gut. Why?'
'They can heal it, it might feel weird but they won't hurt you,' you said. He nodded and let them crawl under his clothes. He cringed a little.
'Bloody hell that feels weird,' he grumbled. You chuckled softly and continued to hold his hand as your shadows found his wound. He gripped your hand tighter as the shadows began to heal him. They retreated and he reached under his coat to feel the wound was completely healed. 'Not even a bloody scar,' he said. You laughed and took your hand away.
'Pretty good trick, huh?' you said. He chuckled and looked down at you.
'I'll bloody say, I think you'll be useful to keep around,' he said.
'Why are you helping me? I mean from what I've heard you're a brutal killer,' you said. Billy chuckled and nodded for you to follow him. You followed him into the base that was empty now.
'Well, they're right, luv. I am a brutal killer. I've hurt a lot of people. I can tell you ain't like the other supes out there. I can see how much that bastard has fucked you up,' he said. You sat down and he handed you a bottle of water.
'Thanks... I just feel weird. I haven't not been under someone's control in a long time,' you said. Billy sat on the table in front of you.
'You're power is pretty impressive. Why didn't they want you on the team, front and centre?' he asked.
'They thought about it. They decided the public wouldn't like someone like me, they said my shadows were gross and scary.'
'Yet they let a tit suckin' freak be the leader,' he said. You chuckled a little and nodded. Billy watched your shadows continue to crawl around you. You noticed him staring and they quickly retracted.
'Sorry...'
'Oi, don't be sorry about them. They're apart of you. You shouldn't have to hide them. Especially when they're so powerful,' he said. You looked at him in shock and your shadows whirled around you affectionately. 'What are they doing?'
'They're happy... Usually people are scared of them and I have to hide them,' you explained. Billy nodded and reached a hand out. One cautiously moved forward and wrapped around his hand. Suddenly you heard a noise and looked up to see a woman pointing a gun at you both.
'Kimiko! Stand down, she ain't bloody hurting me. I let her out,' Billy said. The woman's eyes narrowed and she lowered the gun. Your shadows retreated back into you as you smiled nervously.
'Sorry, we were just talking...' you said. Another man stepped in and looked at you.
'I'm the one you can thank for getting that chip out of you,' he said. You smiled and nodded to him.
'Well, thank you. It hurt like a bitch, but I'm glad it's gone. It's been there for a long time,' you said. The man nodded and looked at you with a hint of pity in his eyes.
'Y/N here ain't a threat, that's why I let get out of the cage,' he said. Kimiko signed something to Frenchie as he nodded.
'Ah, Butcher. Why don't we talk in private? Hughie! Get in here and watch Homelanders wife!' Frenchie shouted as they left.
'I prefer...' the door shut and you sighed. 'Y/N.' You looked up to see the man that must be Hughie. He smiled at you and sat beside you.
'I don't think we've officially met. I'm Hughie,' he said as he held out his hand. Your cautiously reached forward and shook his hand quickly, pulling it away before your shadows could touch him. 'Your shadows are interesting. I've never seen a supe like you,' he said. You smiled a little and your shadows seemed to relax.
'Yeah, there haven't been any others. Well...one.'
'What happened to them?'
'They were my child, with homelander,' you said. Hughie looked at you in shock.
'You had a baby with homelander?'
'Yeah, a little girl. You know what I'm sorry, that was so weird to bring up,' you muttered as you covered your face.
'No, it's okay. What happened to her?' he asked. You turned to him and smiled sadly.
'Homelander didn't want a child with my powers. He got rid of her,' you whispered. Hughie watched as your shadows seemed to tense up again, almost trying to protect you.
'Got rid of her...? He killed his own child?' he asked. You nodded a little as your shadows wrapped around your hand and squeezed. Hughie reached forward and gently held your hand, he didn't even seem to flinch when your shadows touched him. 'I'm sorry, Y/N. I can't even imagine what he put you through,' he said. You looked at him in shock and smiled a little.
'You know I always heard rumours about Butcher and you guys. About how you were these terrifying killers with no morals... I guess I shouldn't be surprised it was all a lie considering people worship my abusive husband,' you said. He chuckled and squeezed your hands before letting go again. 'You're the one that Starlight is dating, right?'
'Yeah, she's on our side. Did you ever meet her?'
'Just in passing a few times between photo shoots. I never spoke to her, but I admire what she's doing,' you said. He smiled and nodded, you could see he truly loved her.
'Yeah, she's like the only good supe. Other than you as well, I mean...' he said. You chuckled and smiled at him.
'It's okay, you haven't had a chance to know me yet.'
'See? She didn't bloody eat Hughie,' you heard Billy say. You looked up to see them coming back into the room.
'Ah... Don't worry, I don't eat people. Not anymore,' you said as they all froze in shock. 'It's a joke... Sorry, I'm not good at jokes,' you said. Hughie chuckled and patted your shoulder.
I genuinely do not understand this obsessive need to turn Soldier Boy into some tragic little meow meow dark traumatized blorbo with a broken heart. There was literally no need for it. Homelander is the fan favorite and he is a genuinely horrifying psychotic piece of shit with basically zero redeeming qualities and people are still massively invested in him. That alone proves you do not need to woobify or justify a villain for audiences to care about them.
Which is why this entire character rewrite for Vought Rising annoys the absolute fuck out of me. Especially combined with the fact that they’ve basically turned the final season of The Boys into one giant promo campaign for the prequel while pushing the actual main cast to the side in favour of random characters nobody gives a shit about yet.
This season should have been about Butcher and Homelander. It should have given us more Starlight as an actual political and social leader. It should have treated Kimiko with basic dignity instead of giving her some of the worst dialogue imaginable. It should have properly dealt with the Butcher/Ryan conflict and the Homelander/Ryan conflict. It should have focused on the emotional and narrative threads the show has been building for years. Instead what do we get? A-Train killed off immediately so he stops taking screentime away from Soldier Boy. Half-hour-long Supernatural references that add basically nothing and could have been spent developing literally any other storyline people actually care about. Random people walking in and out of scenes because they’ll apparently matter in Vought Rising as if I’m supposed to care about this prequel. Eighty fucking mentions of Clara Vought per episode to the point it becomes genuinely unbearable. Meanwhile Ashley and Sage show up for two seconds an episode just to say some nonsense and disappear again, The Deep’s entire script consists of saying “bro” fifty times, bye bye Black Noir, and all of this for what exactly? So we can completely rewrite Soldier Boy and pretend season 3 never established him as an abusive narcissistic asshole? So we can humanize fucking Stormfront of all people even though she was insufferable from the start?
At this point it honestly feels disrespectful not just to the audience but to the actual main cast too. The final season of your flagship show should not feel like an ad break for another series.
